


Not So Simple Valentine’s Day

by charmergirl2468



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Felix and Ingrid get one scene, Gen, Pre-timeskip ages though, Spoilers for Bernie and Sylvain’s supports, Symbolic plushies, Valentine’s Day fic, also why are there not more fics of Bernie and Sylvain being friends!?, ambiguous setting, and that scene is dedicated to scolding Sylvain, can be in canon or modern au, no beta we die like Glenn, they are adorable writing friends fite me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmergirl2468/pseuds/charmergirl2468
Summary: Valentine’s Day has never been a good day for Bernie. She never really been with anyone to celebrate it. But she has a gift for the only fan of her writing and… wait, he wants to spend the day with her?In honour of Valentines Day, I wrote a cute fic of Bernie and Sylvain being friends. Why? Because sometimes a friend is all you need for a couple-centric day like today!Rated T because I will not hold back on swearing
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier & Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	Not So Simple Valentine’s Day

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, this is one way to christen my existence on AO3.   
> I’ll be honest, I just wanted to write some Bernie and Sylvain friend fluff. They’re adorable and it’s a crime more people don’t write about them!  
> Also yes, this is my first AO3 fic so if I messed up, I’m sorry!  
> Also also, I’m uploading this from my phone so we’ll see how that goes!

Bernadetta never saw the hype behind Valentine’s Day. Sure, she appreciates the half-off candy that’ll be on store shelves tomorrow, but the main day was a drag to get through. Even within the safe confines of her room, she was still plagued by the lovey-dovey air that permeated the monastery grounds. It was as if it seeped into her very dorm room, feeding the shadow of her father and his ramblings on being a good wife. 

She shook the specter away and looked at the one task she wanted to do today. Sitting propped up on her desk was a bright red lion plushie. Bernie looked at the stuffed animal and started mentally rattling off regrets for making it. How he’ll never want something like this from plain old Bernie, and how he’ll definitely hate it, or that he’ll make fun of how childish the gift is-

That’s not the kind of thing to expect from Sylvain though.

If Bernie has to be honest, she has no idea why the known Skirt Chaser of Garreg Mach was her friend. Sure, he was a fan of her writing if his hand-written review was to be trusted. But a friend? He’d only really been friends with Dimitri, Ingrid, and Felix as far as everyone knew. But with the archer, Sylvain was always careful of her boundaries and freak outs. Not to say he usually crossed boundaries, but he seemed to especially care about hers. It made her feel… well, “special” was a strong word but “different” definitely fit.

It took nearly an hour, but Bernie managed to get enough courage to leave her room to even begin searching for him. You could tell it was Valentine’s Day by the pairs of people walking around hand in hand. She held the lion close to her chest as the implications sank in. She would never want him to think that she’d want to date him; far from it. She was perfectly content with their friendship, as bizarre as it was to her. Though, now that she thought about it, a gift on Valentine’s Day from a girl definitely sounded bad. 

The purple girl almost went back into her room, but she figured that since she’s halfway to the dining hall, might as well check in there then return to her dorm. She glanced at the tables and quickly spotted the redhead with his friends, Ingrid and Felix. They were talking amongst themselves, but they were too far away for her to hear. She could turn back now, if she really wanted to. But… well, she didn’t want to right now. It was definitely a strange feeling. 

She snuck her way as close to the trio as possible, working hard to just barely be in ear shot. She still needed to work up the guts to actually talk to Sylvain. Getting out of her room and talking to someone required separate bits of courage.

“You shouldn’t be surprised” she heard Ingrid inquire “After all the hearts you’ve broken, of course no one wants to be your valentine”

“Hey, it’s not my fault!” Sylvain countered playfully, “If a girl wants to spend the evening with me, who am I to refute?”

“A decent person” Felix chided, not even looking up from what he was eating.

“Rude…”

“All I’m saying is that you should’ve seen this coming. People talk and even your reputation proceeds you. Do you really think a girl wants a serial flirt to be their valentine?”

“Maybe! No one wants to be alone on Valentine’s Day”

“Now I see why you have brown eyes…” Felix again commented, “It’s because you’re full of shit”

Even with a faux scoff, they laughed at the brillant burn. But the conversation riled up Bernadetta’s nerves. What if he just wants a romantic valentine? There’s no way silly Bernie would fit the bill! She does still want to give him the lion…

The archer made a compromise between her fear and courage and threw the lion in Sylvain’s face. Before he could even ask who it was, she bolted out of the dining hall. The trio of old friends was left stunned in silence at the action. 

“Was that… Bernadetta?” Felix asked, blinking at the direction she headed. 

“I… think so?” Ingrid questioningly agreed. 

Sylvain peeled the plushie off his face and was able to take a good look at it. He ran his fingers through the stitch of the mane. It was cute, and the shade of red reminded him of his hair. Had Berndaetta made this for him? 

He quickly excused himself to follow after her.

* * *

Bernadetta sat on her bed, hugging her legs and burying face in her knees. Of course he would want a romantic valentine! Valentine’s Day was all about love and romance and being a cute couple. There’s no way he’d ever want to spend the day with her as a friend. 

She’d all but resigned to that fate until she heard a knocking at her door. She squeaked in panic but managed to yell “Go away!” as she drew a blanket ever her. Last thing she needed was someone else to make her feel awful.

“Don’t worry Bernadetta, it’s just your ol’ pal Sylvain” The redhead said through the door, trying to sooth her. It wasn’t working.

“I-I said go away!” She shrieked, desperately trying to hide away in her blanket.

“Come on, I wanted to thank you face to face for the lion!” 

She popped her head out of her blanket burrito and looked at the door. Right, that. The plushie she threw at his face. Smooth as ever Bernie…

“I’m coming in” was all the warning she got before Sylvain opened the door. She went back to being a lump under her covers. He smiled to himself as he sat beside the lump that was his ever shy friend. 

“Ya know… I don’t really have anyone to spend Valentine’s Day with…” he stated, leaning back on his hands. He knew better than to put his hands on her when she was in hiding. “If you don’t have any plans with someone, do you just want to spend today with me? As a friend of course!”

Bernadetta let only her eyes peek through to look at him. She see’s she’d, again, overthought the situation. She knew the redhead well enough to see how differently he treated their relationship. He’d turn on the charm and charisma for nearly every other girl he’s come across. But for Bernie? He was more interested in her writing, her craft than her body. She felt silly for her thought process before.

“T-That’s w-what I was hoping for…” She replied, keeping her eyes away from him in general embarrassment.

To say Sylvain beamed with glee would be an overstatement.

“Good! Let’s have a good Valentine’s Day!”

Once the archer was unwrapped from her blanket, they were off to dinner

* * *

Walking home from dinner was something new to Sylvain. Normally, he’d be at a girls house spending the night for obvious reasons. But this was special; this was coming back from dinner with Bernadetta.

He’ll admit, he first only admired her for her writing. The way she wrote characters and scenes was unmatched! Then he got to know her and was intrigued by her. Normally girls (who aren’t Ingrid) fall all over him because of his crest. Bernie, meanwhile, was more concerned with staying in her room. Though that was a concern all on its own, she didn’t care about his crest. She didn’t see Sylvain, heir to the Gautier name. She saw Sylvain, fan of literature and writing. Even seeing one facet of him was refreshing.

So walking home with their hands intertwined felt natural in a way neither could describe. Bernie would normally be freaking out eleven way to Sunday, but holding the hand of friend like Sylvain felt calming. Sylvain normally wouldn’t hold hands with anyone but a date, but feeling someone as genuine as Bernadetta within his hold assured him that she was real. 

As they were walking, they saw a stand selling plushies on the side of the road. A pop-up place to sell Valentine’s Day gifts. Though the man running the stand looked to be closing up. The duo would’ve walked by if something hadn’t caught Sylvain’s eye. He broke away from the archer and head to the stand.

“Hey, how much for this?” He asked the seller, holding up a purple owl stuffed animal. 

“About 150G my fine fellow!” The seller replied, putting on the shopkeeper charm.

Sylvain counters with his own charming smile and a “How about we drop it down to 100G and a good word for your services?”

“Bartering Eh? Well my fine fellow, this craftsmanship is worth far more than a review! Why not show your love for your girl  and the owl for the full 150G?”

Bernie blushed from embarrassment. 

“Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s just my friend. She… got dumped by her boyfriend and needs a pick me up. Maybe you can pity the sweet girl and drop it down to 100G to mend her broken heart?”

She could see consideration in the sellers eyes as he looked at her. Sylvain was one hell of a liar when he needed to. 

“Alright, the owls all yours. Take good care of it!”

Sylvain returned to Bernie with a triumphant smile on his face and the purple owl in hand. 

“Look! I got you a present!”

“Ooooooh no!” She wailed, “I made you feel like you had to get me something! All because of that lion! Bad bad Bernie!” 

He shook his head and plopped the owl in her hands.

“I didn’t feel obligated in the slightest” he assured, “I got you this of my own free will. Plus, it reminded me of you! It’s the exact shade of your hair!”

He was right. It was as if someone crafted a plush version of her, even down to the grey button eyes. It was just adorable. A word she never thought she’d associate with anything compared to her, but Sylvain made self worth seem possible.

Happy tears pricked at her eyes as he held the owl close and whispered “Thank you…”

Arms wrapped around her and all she felt was comfort.

“Anytime Berna-“

“Bernie”

“Hm?”

“My friends, they call me Bernie”

“Alright… Bernie”

They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the comfort of a friend. But the sun had long been set and they had to return to the monastery. So they did, with Sylvain slinging an arm around Bernie’s shoulders. Her own arms occupied with hugging her new owl plushie close to her chest. They both had content smiles as they walked astride with each other. 

If you’d asked either of them the next day, they’d both tell you it was their best Valentines Day.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if this was sounded rushed at parts! I just wanted to get to the fluff ASAP!


End file.
